ANTISEMITISM – AUSTRALIA

Dutton pledges mandatory sentences for terror

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Ellie Dudley
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Jan-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of the national cabinet to address the growing problem of anti-Semitism and extremism. Dutton has also committed to introducing a minimum mandatory sentence of six years for terrorism offences and 1-5 years for displaying Nazi symbols and those of prohibited terrorist organisations. However, Law Council of Australia president Juliana Warner and Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesman Greg Barns have criticised Dutton’s push for mandatory sentencing for such crimes.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LAWYERS ALLIANCE

‘Democracy is at stake’: SOS from PM’s envoy

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Original article by Alexi Demetriadi, Bianca Farmakis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 15-Jan-25

Australia’s inaugural envoy on anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to convene a meeting of national cabinet to address the issue. Segal has called for harsher sentences and more prosecutions for hate crimes directed at Jewish Australians, arguing that the judiciary’s soft approach to sentencing is giving anti-Semites "effective impunity". Segal adds that politicians at federal and state level must take legislative action if current laws are not "up to the task". Segal notes that the recent attacks on the Jewish community are part of a "systematic pattern of intimidation" that began when no action was taken against people who targeted Jews at the Sydney Opera House on 9 October 2023.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

China, Russia, Israel: Wong on affront foot

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Original article by Ben Packham, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 : 11-Dec-24

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has defended a controversial speech at the University of South Australia. Wong used the Hawke Lecture to contend that it is not anti-Semitic to expect Israel to comply with international law, in the same way that Russia and China are expected to do so with regard to Ukraine and the South China Sea. However, shadow home affairs minister James Paterson says Wong’s criticism of Israel is encouraging anti-Semitism and threatening the safety of Jewish Australians. Meanwhile, Simone Abel from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry has accused the government of double standards regarding foreign policy towards Israel.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY

Antisemitism changing nation, Albanese told

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 11-Dec-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told the Jewish community that the federal government will provide financial support to rebuild the Adass Israel synagogue. Albanese visited the site on Tuesday, spending 45 minutes inspecting the remains of the building and a similar amount of time in a private meeting with senior members of the Adass Israel community. Benjamin Klein, a member of the synagogue’s board, says community leaders told Albanese that the surge in anti-Semitism has "changed the fabric of Australia", and that the government must take action to address it. Police are searching for three suspects in the firebombing, which has been designated a terrorist attack.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Travel warning for Jewish visitors to Australia after synagogue attack

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Original article by Chip Le Grand, Paul Sakkal, James Massola
The Age – Page: Online : 10-Dec-24

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre is set to advise Jewish people worldwide to reconsider non-essential travel to Australia in the wake of the arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne. The US-based Jewish human rights organisation’s associate dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper says it issues travel advisories infrequently and only when fears for Jews’ safety reach crisis levels; it has not previously issued a travel warning against Australia. Meanwhile, a taskforce has been established to investigate the firebombing; sources have indicated that three suspects have been identified, and the attack is being treated as politically rather than religiously motivated.

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SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE

Police, ASIO taskforce to protect Jews

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Original article by Andrew Tillett, Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Dec-24

The federal government has announced that the Australian Federal Police and ASIO will establish a special taskforce to investigate anti-Semitism in Australia. The decision to set up ‘Operation Avalite’ follows official confirmation that the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne has been designated a terrorist attack. Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has defended the decision to belatedly make this declaration, but federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton says it was "obvious from the start" that it was a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised for playing tennis at an exclusive Perth tennis club on Saturday rather than cut short his visit to Western Australia in response to the synagogue attack.

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AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIAN SECURITY INTELLIGENCE ORGANISATION, VICTORIA POLICE

PM finally acknowledges act of terror at synagogue

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Original article by Cameron Stewart, Sarah Ison, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 3 : 9-Dec-24

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the federal government’s track record on anti-Semitism in the wake of an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue on Friday. Albanese used a press conference on Sunday to contend that his government has consistently called out the rise in anti-Semitism. He also belatedly expressed his personal view that the attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue was an act of terrorism. However, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has declined to do so, stating that the firebombing was an "act of anti-Semitic evil". Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has linked the firebombing to the federal government’s "extreme anti-Israeli position".

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Age-old hatred threat to nation, warns new envoy

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 10-Jul-24

The federal government has appointed Jillian Segal as Australia’s first special envoy to combat anti-Semitism. Segal is a business leader, lawyer and philanthropist, and a former president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. She says anti-Semitism is a threat to Australian society as a whole, rather than just the Jewish community. Segal will represent Australia at the upcoming World Jewish Congress in Argentina. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out holding a judicial inquiry into anti-Semitism on university campuses. He has also criticised the Greens’ deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi for failing to call for Hamas to be ‘dismantled’ in a recent interview.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

PM locked out by war protests

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Original article by Dennis Shanahan, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 5-Jun-24

The security protection of federal MPs and Parliament House has been ramped up in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October and the resultant pro-Palestine demonstrations across Australia. It has been revealed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not used his electorate office in Marrickville since early January due to concerns about the safety of his staff. Meanwhile, federal police and intelligence agencies are believed to have advised parliamentarians that anti-Israel demonstrations have been infiltrated by Islamic extremists.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

University of Melbourne pro-Palestine protesters endorse Israel should not exist social media post

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Original article by Suzan Delibasic
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 28-May-24

The University of Melbourne’s chancellor Jane Hansen has received a formal complaint about an Instagram post that was re-shared by pro-Palestine activists who occupied a campus building for more than a week. Palestinian-American blogger Mariam Barghouti was responsible for the original post, which stated that "Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist". This post was subsequently re-shared by the UniMelb for Palestine Instagram page. A member of the Jewish community wrote to Hansen expressing concern about the post and urging her to take immediate action, stating that the post effectively calls for the wholesale murder of nine million people in Israel.

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UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE